Reiko Yamada

Reiko graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the Tokyo College of Music, and came to Chicago shortly after to study at Roosevelt University's Chicago Music College, from which she graduated with a Master's Degree in piano performance. She also studied in the performance certificate program at DePaul University and was a faculty member of Saint Xavier University.
Ms. Yamada has served as the principal keyboardist of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra since 1995. She has also appeared on the chamber music series of Fontana Chamber Arts and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Since her initial exposure to the music of Akira Ifukube since she was attending his seminars at the Tokyo College of Music, she has performed his Ritmica Ostinata per Pianoforte ed Orchestra with Tochigi-ken Symphony Orchestra under Hayakawa's direction in 2006, and under Ogimachi's direction in 2010. She has also appointed as a guest artist for playing "Ritmica Ostinata" again with Tochigi-ken symphony Orhcestra on June 12, 2016, and with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on July 10,2016.
Ms. Yamada's first compact disc, Akira Ifukube: Works for Piano Volume 1, was selecteed as "Classical Disc of the Month" in Records Geijyutsu --a well-known Japanese music publication -- and spent a week as a number one best seller of contemporary music at Tower Records Japan.
Reiko used to serve with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago as the principal keyboardist from 1992 to 1998, and has appeared as a supplemental keyboardist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.